Small on space, big on joy.

Feeling like we had completely lost our TOV, Adam (the hubs) and I took a look at our life and most importantly the way it was making us feel.  The bottom line?  Generally fairly blah.  Don't get me wrong, we had lots and lots of good things in our life, like good jobs, a super happy kiddo, and good health, neither of us really felt fulfilled.  As former residents of the fair city of Seattle, we thought back to those times and asked ourselves why we felt "so much happier" there.  Aside from the fact that we were DINKs at the time (I'm glad we have H but let's be honest, wee ones are HARD WORK!), we both had activities that we were really interested in like dodge ball and book club, we rented a tiny apartment that was sparsely furnished so there wasn't much housekeeping to be done, and living in such a bus-friendly city, we were able to get around very easily, spending minimal time getting to the things that interested us. On top of that, we had a fulfilling church community, we volunteered, and we could easily take advantage of nature.  

Our happy little rowhome :)

Our paralyzing commute here in Philly (1.5 hours each way) has now made much of these activities very tough (although I have no doubt that just our own inertia keeps us from a lot of things at times).  We miss the amenities of a city, and we also had a house that was 3 times the size of our Seattle apartment.  The obvious choice to begin restoring balance in our lives was to get ourselves back into the city.  For over a year, we carefully selected the neighborhood that best matched our personalities and needs.  Fairmount it is!  And so at the end of this week, we'll move into this beauty of a house: 

Here's the idealistic view of what we think we're getting ourselves into:

• Half the square footage (this is a fact, it's just that we're going into this thinking it will be a very good thing)
• WAY shorter commute
• More time to do activities that mean something to us
• More time with H
• Better access to amenitites
• No increase (or perhaps savings) in our spending
• A community that feels passionate about its well being
• More "people like us"
• Better Thai food
• A more complex process when trying to buy food groceries as well as dry goods (WHERE DO YOU BUY TOILET PAPER??)
• Higher wage taxes (again, this is a fact, although we'd love to figure out a solution)
• A more multicultural upbringing for H
• A more violent school system to contend with
• Street hockey (please, oh please, I hope kids play this!)

If you were moving from the 'burbs to the city, what would you expect?  

Check back next week for an update on how the move went and any early findings.